Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
s of the Walt Disney World Railroad (foreground) and the Walt Disney World Monorail System (background) at the entrance to Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World]] . .|salign=right}} Rail transport can be found in every theme park resort property owned or licensed by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, one of the four business segments of the Walt Disney Company. The origins of Disney theme park rail transport can be traced back to Walt Disney himself and his personal fondness for railroads, who insisted that they be included in the first Disney park, the original Disneyland (a key component of the Disneyland Resort) in California in the United States, which opened on July 17, 1955. . . The Disney tradition of including transport by rail in its parks has since been extended to other Disney properties with the opening of Walt Disney World in Florida in the United States, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, Disneyland Paris in France, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in China, and Shanghai Disney Resort in China. The Disney theme park chain is the largest on the planet by annual attendance with over 157 million visitors in 2018, and the rail systems located inside its properties play key roles as modes of transportation and as attractions for its visitors. Each Disney theme park resort has a rail transport system serving its general resort area, whether it is a monorail system located inside the Disney resort properties in the United States and Japan, or a conventional rail system connecting external rail networks to the Disney resorts in France and China. The Disneyland Monorail System in California was the first monorail system in the United States; the Walt Disney World Monorail System in Florida, with an estimated 150,000 passengers per day, is one of the busiest monorail systems in the world. . Both Disney park resort properties in the United States, as well as those in Japan and France, contain theme parks that feature genuine steam-powered railroads. . The Disney park chain has one of the world's largest private collections of operational steam locomotives, with seventeen in total spread across the globe. Additional rail systems within the theme parks in both United States resorts and the Hong Kong resort resemble steam-powered railroads, but their locomotives are powered by internal combustion engines. . . Other rail transport modes found in Disney parks include horse-drawn streetcar rail lines within both resorts in the United States and the resort in France, replica vintage electric rail lines in California and Japan, and a people mover in Florida. Disneyland Resort Route diagrams Walt Disney World Route diagrams Tokyo Disney Resort Route diagrams Disneyland Paris Route diagrams Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Route diagrams Shanghai Disney Resort See also Other similar railroads: *Weiser Railroad (opened 1929) in The Henry Ford (Greenfield Village) *Edaville Railroad (opened 1947) in Edaville Family Theme Park *Ghost Town & Calico Railroad (opened 1952) in Knott's Berry Farm *Tweetsie Railroad (opened 1957) *White Mountain Central Railroad (opened 1958) in Clark's Trading Post *Dollywood Express (opened 1961) in Dollywood *Six Flags & Texas Railroad (opened 1961) in Six Flags Over Texas *Frisco Silver Dollar Line (opened 1962) in Silver Dollar City *Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad (opened 1963) in Cedar Point *Efteling Steam Train Company (opened 1969) in Efteling *Dreamworld Express (opened 1981) in Dreamworld Museums and private railroads with rolling stock previously run on Disney property: *Justi Creek Railway *Los Angeles Live Steamers Railroad Museum *Orange Empire Railway Museum *Pacific Coast Railroad *Santa Rosa Valley Railroad References Bibliography * * * * External links *Disney Parks – official website Category:Amusement rides based on rail transport Category:Heritage railways Category:Heritage streetcar systems Category:Horse-drawn railways Category:Monorails Category:Narrow gauge railways Category:People movers Category:Rail transport Category:Standard gauge railways Category:Tram transport Category:Walt Disney Parks and Resorts